10/28/10

That's a sycamore above and that tree is in Jericho - but of course, that's not Zacchaeus. But it could be a contemporary Mr. Z, climbing up to get a better view of Jesus passing by below.

Luke's gospel this coming Sunday tells us Zacchaeus scaled the sycamore because he was short and couldn't see over the crowd gathered along the road.

I wonder... what gets in the way of our seeing Jesus more clearly as he passes through our lives?

What are the physical, the emotional, the circumstantial, the spiritual aspects of my life and yours that need to be acknowledged and accepted as we seek to draw closer to Jesus? What changes are ours to make? What trees do we need to climb? What turns do we need to make? What needs to be surrendered to the Lord's healing and mercy?

See how when Zacchaeus climbs the tree - Jesus takes over. He reaches out to him and invites himself to dinner at the Z-man's home.

In meeting Christ Zacchaeus' life is changed - and he makes changes in his life.

So often, it's in accepting what we name as our inadequacies that the door to grace, healing and deeper faith is opened...

today I think what got in the way was my fear- and my sadness- and my self-consciousness-

but- I had an experience that changed how I felt dramatically-it wasn't a huge and different experience, but it made all the difference to me-I saw a little boy in a stroller and he looked as sad as I felt- he saw me and we just looked at each other for a little while- then he waved to me, still looking sad- I waved back and then he smiled- I smiled back- we played a little game of peek-a-boo until his mom started to wheel him away-

Are you thinking about becoming a Catholic?

The best place to start is always one of your local Catholic churches. Drop in some Sunday and see what's going on. Then you might speak to the pastor or someone on the parish staff about how they can help you and respond to your questions.